


Follow her down

by ambiguously



Category: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-09 12:09:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15267213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguously/pseuds/ambiguously
Summary: Enfys can't figure out if Qi'ra is attempting to recruit her or seduce her.





	Follow her down

**Author's Note:**

  * For [saiditallbefore](https://archiveofourown.org/users/saiditallbefore/gifts).



It begins on Savareen. Enfys has already learned allies are rare and not to be trusted. She appreciates the danger Beckett's people go through for the aid of Enfys and her cause, but she will not offer them her trust. Not the young human man who gives them the coaxium, nor the Wookiee beside him, and certainly not the young woman who is with them yet also stands apart from them watching with the eyes of a creature that knows it is dying.

Enfys pays the man and the Wookiee what she can, more as a token of gratitude and a promise. The woman is already gone. Qi'ra. Her name is Qi'ra.

* * *

Weazel is the best spy she's ever met, able to pry out specks of useful information like a steelbird pries open solid rock to root out a tiny insect hiding inside. She wasn't foolish enough to think they stabbed Crimson Dawn through with their beak. Savareen scratched it, that's all. The syndicate is making plans to raid a shipment of Imperial medical supplies headed to Toong'l.

The Cloud-Riders have plans for those supplies.

Enfys leads the raid, as she always does. Her mother taught her a leader must be willing to fly with her troops, otherwise she is nothing but a coward playing with toys. As they attack, she wonders which coward has risen like a fungus to spread cap and lace over the rest of this fetid group.

Enfys dives in, engine roaring. They've got their maneuvers planned and orchestrated like gearwork these days. Easy in, easy out unless the contracted help for this job gives them trouble.

Four swoop bikes are shot out from under their riders in quick order. The contracted help are heavily armed, and as Enfys performs an evasive turn, she notes they have placed spotters in the perfect locations to take out the Cloud-Riders. The raid on the medical convoy is underway, and their interference has been predicted, calculated, and dealt with.

Two more Riders fall. These are rescued by other Riders. They've worked with two Cloud-Riders to a bike before, but this has gone bad and there's no pulling it back.

Anger and bile in her mouth, Enfys orders her people to break off the attack.

As they pull up, still dodging blasts, she catches sight of the leader down below. The woman's face is bare, and Enfys would know those eyes anywhere.

* * *

"They've studied our strategies," Enfys says over dinner, another rough stew she's learned not to ask the ingredients of. Weazel's slurping his stew down, but he's lived in harder times than even she has, and has learned to enjoy any food not trying to eat him first.

"I told you we shouldn't leave survivors," he says while chewing what might be gristle.

She glares back at him. It's an old argument. "We need new strategies."

"If you want to do things the hard way, sure."

"The hard way is the right way."

* * *

There's a handover on Farstey. One of the many tiny groups Enfys is building an alliance with has ships to give for the cause. They are mid-trade when Crimson Dawn attacks. Enfys feels the controls of her bike shudder as the engine is blasted. She barely forces it to two meters from the ground in time before she dives off, feeling the explosion behind her.

She has weapons. She'll fight until her last breath. No one comes after her, though, and she stands there, helpless to watch as her team is routed, and the other team is destroyed. She's sure no one who works with her betrayed them, which means the spy was in the other ranks.

A shuttle lands close to her position as the last of the other cell is mopped up. She greets it with her Electroripper in hand.

Before she strikes, the ramp lowers. Qi'ra walks out. Enfys waits, willing herself to cut down her enemy, unable to do so, and now waiting for her.

"You can put down your staff. If you kill me, the rest of my troops will cut you to ribbons before my head hits the ground."

"I'll take that wager."

"I came to talk."

"We did talk. Then you went back to Crimson Dawn."

"I am Crimson Dawn. I'm the one running things now." Her eyes say a different story. She was controlled by Dryden. Now she wears someone else's collar around her neck, if one only visible to the two of them.

"Then I should kill you now."

Qi'ra shrugs, and for the life of her, Enfys honestly believes the woman doesn't care. Whatever chain she's wearing, it's heavy enough for her to think death is a reasonable escape, though not yet so heavy she'll take her own life.

"I would rather we find a mutually beneficial arrangement as allies."

"The Cloud-Riders are not going to become Crimson Dawn's monkey-lizards."

"You'd retain your independent status, naturally. You'd simply help me when I requested help, and in return, you would have the aid of Crimson Dawn when you need it."

"I said no. We will not help the same devils we are fighting."

"You don't need to fight us, Enfys. We are not your enemy. The Empire takes and takes from everyone, man, woman, beast, and child. Droids too. We are trying to stay one step ahead of them, and so are you. We can work together." Qi'ra takes a step closer. "We could keep one small part of the galaxy free if we work together."

The lines have been practiced with the perfect level of open honesty and heartfelt plea. It must have taken her hours. 

"And replace one master with another? An Emperor for whoever pulls your strings now?"

For one moment, Qi'ra's expression changes. Her eyes flash, terror flipping up into view like a fin before slipping beneath the cool, calm waters of her facade. "Just an alliance, as I said." She waves her hand at her ships. One lands close by.

Emfys turns, trying to keep both in sight. Instead, Qi'ra walks towards the other ship. "Think it over. The shuttle is a gift. You should be able to load your swoop bike aboard and return to your people."

For one moment, Enfys looks at Qi'ra, and she considers asking her to join her aboard the shuttle, to come away with her. Instead she says, "Freedom is sorely bought, and loyalty even more. Keep your shuttle and your offer."

"Up to you," Qi'ra replies, and boards the other ship. It takes off, and the other Crimson Dawn ships join it as they all leave.

Enfys stares at the shuttle.

Then she goes aboard to see what parts she can scavenge to fix her bike.

* * *

There are other gifts:

At the scene of one could-be deadly battle, the Crimson Dawn breaks off suddenly, as though ordered.

During a raid on a Crimson Dawn heist, a token amount of coaxium is left precisely where Enfys lands.

On a third planet, she finds the body of the man who killed her mother. Enfys saw him during the battle and will never forget his face. The weapon that killed him has to have been very unusual to have cut this way. Curious.

* * *

Nearly a year has passed since Savareen, and a litter of battles and trinkets between them, Enfys meets her on a neutral planet. Enfys sports more scars than she did. Qi'ra's face is unmarked, but the light in her eyes is dimmed far more than the day they met. Her new master is harsh, and there are rumors Enfys has been chasing which whisper he is far more.

"You said you wanted to talk." Enfys rests her hands on her staff. She can lift it in a moment to fight if she needs to. "Talk."

"Have you considered my offer?"

"I've given you my answer."

"We are more powerful together." For a moment, she's animated again, the hunted look fallen from her face, and here, now, watching her, Enfys understands what she really wants. Together they can overthrow the puppet master who's tied Qi'ra's soul into knots.

"I don't want power. I want freedom." Enfys tilts her head. "And so do you."

Qi'ra is a terrible kisser. She's abrupt, her mouth suddenly against Enfys like a mynock against a hull. Enfys is certain she's had lovers before, Dryden and that young man back on Savareen, but her lips have no concept of tenderness or seduction. Enfys hasn't made time for a lover in her life. She is already better at kissing Qi'ra back, surprising herself.

She tastes sweet, and her soft skin under Enfys's suddenly curious hands speaks of luxury. Qi'ra is a well-kept pet. Enfys will not be embarrassed by her own rough hands, and her skin which has seen deserts and frozen wastes over the course of her private war. She will not think of the contrast of her clothes, scavenged and hard-used, crushed against the vine-silk of Qi'ra's garments. She will do nothing except enjoy this moment for what it is, before she must break away and tell her no again.

The moment stretches longer.

And longer.

Enfys is expected back. Weazel has orders to come look for her, if only to confirm she's dead or captured. This has to stop.

Vine-silk makes the loveliest sounds when it slithers off an attractive body. Qi'ra wears her scars under her clothes. Enfys takes her time on them, tasting each one. She has a reasonable idea on how to proceed, theoretically at least. Qi'ra knows practice, her hands expertly removing the armor, and the coverings, and last, the thin cloth Enfys wears to cover her most intimate regions.

Qi'ra is a bad kisser. Her mouth is talented in other ways. Enfys is pressed against the hull of a ship that isn't hers, Qi'ra kneeling before her like an adherent to a cult. Her own breath comes hard as Qi'ra's fingers stroke through the coarse hair she finds, spreading Enfys open, and tasting her as though she is some exquisite dainty, consuming her with precious, short licks while Enfys bites down on her own lip to keep from moaning. No one can hear her, and she is long practiced in making her own pleasure quietly as the other Cloud-Riders sleep nearby.

This is a bit like the feel of her own hand, and far more like nothing else. Qi'ra learns her body quickly, stroking with harder pressure, making a pleased humming sound in her throat that vibrates right into where Enfys most needs her.

"Move your leg," Qi'ra says. Enfys watches her in a haze, until Qi'ra guides one leg over her shoulder. Now her face has full access to Enfys's body, and she licks her hard, deliberately, her fingers stroking back and forth between tastes. It's amazing. Enfys feels her other leg trembling, holding her up against the ship precariously. One hand shoves back to hold for purchase on the smooth hull, and the other threads through Qi'ra's hair, mussing the careful coiffure. She bites her lip hard enough for pain, and drops her jaw open.

"Please," she says, and doesn't know what she wants Qi'ra to do, only knows she doesn't want her to stop.

One slim finger breaches her, pressing up and in, stroking nerves her own hand can't reach without help. The pressure feels good, though not half so good as the movement of Qi'ra's tongue. "Show me what you look like when you come," Qi'ra tells her, her eyes clear and present and alight, and her mouth latches onto the nub of Enfys's pleasure with a loud hum.

Enfys has made herself climax dozens or hundreds of times. None of those felt like this lust scorching through her now. Old habit dropping, she moans in a high voice, and moans more as Qi'ra keeps going, tasting her, rubbing her, playing with her body to being her an extended peak that keeps coming.

"Enough," Enfys manages to gasp out, twitching her leg aside, unsure of her footing as she tries to stand on both feet again.

Qi'ra perches back on her heels, gorgeous and smug. "I've wanted that for a long time."

"I'm still not joining you," Enfys says, short of breath. "Even if you do that twenty more times." It's only half a joke.

* * *

They make more moments of truce between raids and double-crosses. Qi'ra loves to play with the fine hairs covering Enfys's vulva. She removes her own hair there, leaving Enfys a smooth terrain to explore like some new world. Her fingers go everywhere, and her mouth follows. She likes the way Qi'ra tastes, from the powder-fine smoothness of her arms to the musky slickness between her legs. She loves the way Qi'ra's entire body convulses when she comes.

They remain enemies. Obviously. This is time spent between their disparate groups' attempts to annihilate one another.

* * *

There's a particularly vicious skirmish on Toprawa. Enfys loses five good people to hired muscle working for one of the cartels. She's not sure it's Crimson Dawn, but it doesn't matter. She's angry, and she's tired, and she feels like she's being used even if she won't capitulate.

She sends a message to Qi'ra: "Meet me on Felucia." She adds coordinates to her desired meeting spot.

She waits for Qi'ra impatiently. They have never rendezvoused here. She'd like to say the last thing on her mind right now is sex, but it is the very first thing she thinks of when she sees Qi'ra approach wearing a glittery gown that must have cost two entire planets their livelihoods. Enfys wants to slide the skirt up over Qira's knees, slowly pull it across her thighs, and drink in the sight of whatever she's chosen to wear beneath or better, the sight of her unclothed skin awaiting.

Qi'ra's expression is a little annoyed, and a little eager. "I was occupied with a trade. I don't like having to push off a new client for the sake of a bit of fun."

"But you did."

"Yes," she says, her eyes bright and focused on Enfys. Enfys herself never dresses up for her. Qi'ra loves seeing her in armor and leather and rough-tanned furs, and loves stripping those off her body one piece at a time.

"We need to talk."

The annoyance rises higher. "You don't like talking."

"I want to talk with your about your offer. The first offer you made."

Something shutters closed on Qi'ra's face. She's not looking at Enfys like a lover. She is back to staring like an animal waiting to die in a trap. "You want to make an alliance with Crimson Dawn. Good. It's about time you saw reason."

Enfys steps closer and kisses her. Qi'ra melts into the kiss. She's gotten better, and she always comes alive when their mouths move against one another, licking into Enfys like a sweet.

She has to know. This might be her last time to know. Enfys teases up the skirt of the glittering dress, scrunching it gracelessly in one hand as she keeps kissing Qi'ra. It seems to take forever before she's pulled it high enough. Her hand slides between Qi'ra's warm thighs, and finds welcoming, wet, bare skin under her seeking fingers. Instinct and habit let her forefinger stroke now in lazy circles as they kiss. Qi'ra arches her back.

"I brought a sleeping roll," she breathes into Enfys's mouth. "And I brought that wand I told you about."

Enfys groans against her. Qi'ra has promised to lay her down and spread her legs wide and show her the pleasures of a Spiran vibrating wand.

"After we talk."

"You and your people will join us, and we can celebrate now."

"No," Enfys says, and regretfully she pulls her hand back, resisting the urge to taste Qi'ra on her fingers. "I bring a counter proposal."

Qi'ra steps back. Enfys can read the pain and the underlying fear in her eyes as she says, "Crimson Dawn will keep hunting you and fighting you. I can't cut you a deal because you're my lover."

"I know. But you don't have to belong to Crimson Dawn. Come with me. Come today. Join us. Just you. You can have your freedom, Qi'ra." She takes Qi'ra's hand. "We are stronger together."

Qi'ra stares at her. Terror and hope are both in her eyes. "I can't."

"You can. You hate Crimson Dawn. I can help you fake your death here. You can put on a mask and join us. No one will know."

Her voice is hoarse. "He'll find me." She's never said his name. Enfys burned through too many favors finding out on her own.

"Then I'll fight him to keep you." Enfys smiles. "Come away with me, Qi'ra. Work by my side to help free the galaxy from tyranny." She places her hand on Qi'ra's cheek. "Sleep by my side every night."

Qi'ra is trapped inside her own head. She's served one master after another, surviving by bowing her neck. Her head is lowered now. No one can lead her out of her bonds without her own willingness to break them.

"I can't."

Enfys bows her own head, lowering herself to meet Qi'ra's eyes.

"I will be here waiting when you realize that you can."

* * *

Four months later, Enfys gets a message from a Fulcrum agent. She travels to Rhen Var alone. Fulcrum has already left, and he's left her a prisoner shivering in the snow.

Qi'ra's fine gowns are gone. She wears simple traveling clothes, indescript and useless in this cold. She's already succumbing to the freezing temperatures when Enfys arrives at the coordinates she was given. Enfys doesn't stop to wonder why she's here, or how Fulcrum found her, or why he contacted Enfys. Getting their bodies skin to skin under the protective tent she brought is far more important now, restoring heat to Qi'ra's body before the cold kills her. It's far too cold to make love, and her lover is barely conscious regardless. Enfys holds her, and she waits for the warmth to slowly bloom through her pale skin. It takes hours. Qi'ra gradually recovers enough to walk back to the transport.

"I turned myself in," she says, sitting in a small pile of extra clothes, nose ruddy and fingers still too pale. "I told him to bring me to you."

"That wasn't going to work. Fulcrum doesn't work for me. None of them do."

"I thought you were one big alliance."

"We're barely a handful of cells and we barely communicate with one another. We don't have supplies to share and we don't have a central command." Yet, she thinks to herself. All good things take time to grow.

Qi'ra sits back heavily in her seat. "You seemed more organized than that. You're telling me my plans have been thwarted by a group of, of _vagabonds_?"

Enfys shrugs. "Vagabonds. Thieves. Refugees. Pirates. Ex-slaves. A few fools in it for the adventure."

"And you."

"And the two of us." She smiles at Qi'ra. "That's enough to deal with the cartels and the Empire."

Qi'ra's returning smile is weak. She's already considering the resource scarcity, and the need for better planning. It's all over her face. But her eyes sparkle with life at the challenge before her, and with no fear left in her voice, she says, "More than enough."


End file.
